The University of Colorado men’s golf team is set to begin its spring season on Monday at the 26th annual “The Prestige” tournament, held at PGA West in La Quinta, California. The event was co-founded in 2000 by the late Mark Simpson, a former Colorado head coach, and features top academic programs in college golf. This marks the 13th appearance for the Buffaloes in this competition.
Nineteen of the nation’s top 102 teams will compete over three days and 54 holes on the PGA West Greg Norman Course, which measures 7,185 yards with a par of 71. The course sits approximately 40 feet below sea level. Colorado’s players arrived several days early to practice ahead of Sunday’s official round; their last competition was at the end of October.
The Buffaloes, currently ranked No. 42 nationally, will field sophomore Parker Paxton as their lead golfer, followed by senior Hunter Swanson and juniors Brandon Knight and Ty Holbrook. Graduate transfer Jackson Rivera rounds out the starting lineup. Sophomore Michael Fang will participate separately in The Prestige Individual event at The Golf Club at Terra Lago.
Colorado set a new team record for lowest stroke average during the fall season with an average score of 70.39 per round—an improvement over their previous best from 2024. Four players—Paxton (68.80), Swanson (69.73), Knight (69.93), and Holbrook (70.07)—achieved four of the eight best single-season averages in program history.
“Everyone is ready to go for the spring,” said head coach Roy Edwards. “We have a motivated, competitive, and hard-working group that put in a great deal of effort during the offseason. This is an exceptional group of young men, and we’re very proud of how they represent the University of Colorado. When we combine smart decision-making with a free, confident mindset, we play our best golf. We have a highly competitive schedule this spring and expect to face many of the top teams in the country on some outstanding courses. Coach (Derek) Tolan and I can’t wait to get going.”
Last year at The Prestige, Colorado finished fifth with a total score of seven-under-par (845). Their final-round score was one of their best performances historically at this tournament.
“The PGA West Norman Course puts a premium on ball-striking and iron play so that also has been a big area of focus for the team in our preparations,” Edwards added.
This year’s field includes co-hosts UC Davis (ranked No. 179) and Stanford (No. 26), along with five Big 12 schools: Texas Tech (No. 9), Kansas (No. 47), Kansas State (No. 68), Iowa State (No. 86), as well as other prominent programs such as Wake Forest, Clemson, Arkansas-Little Rock, Northwestern, San Diego, UNC-Wilmington, SMU, Oregon, Washington State, Princeton, Oregon State, North Alabama, Colorado State, Lipscomb, Nevada,Gonzaga,and Yale.
Fourteen players among those competing are ranked within college golf’s national top-100 individuals; Paxton is currently rated highest among Buffaloes golfers at No.151 after recording five consecutive top-20 finishes during fall events.
A separate individual competition features representatives from twenty-two schools.
Other Buffaloes ranking inside college golf’s top-500 include Swanson (309), Holbrook (341), Knight (355),and freshman Tyler Long(483). Rivera is ranked No .640 , Fang No .738 ,and Casey Kosney , another freshman who has played sparingly ,is listed at No .936 .
The Buffaloes will start Monday afternoon paired with UC Davis and Northwestern—the same pairing as last year’s opening round—while Fang tees off earlier alongside Northwestern and Stanford players for his individual event participation.
Colorado has achieved four top-five finishes historically at The Prestige; their best showing came with second place in 2001 when Joe Liley posted CU’s all-time best finish there by taking third individually.
After completing this tournament,the team plans to stay in southern California for Wyoming’s Desert Intercollegiate from February23–25 rather than return briefly to Boulder between events .
In professional circuits ,three recent CU graduates are active on tours primarily across Arizona and California . Justin Biwer recently notched three top-10 finishes including runner-up honors at Central Coast Championship . Dylan McDermott finished ninth last week in Bakersfield Open after also earning second place late last year in NAPA Open . Tucker Clark competed but missed cut recently .
Jeremy Paul (’17) plays on Korn Ferry Tour—with occasional PGA Tour appearances —recently tying for25th overall thanks partly to posting lowest single-round score during Astara Golf Championship . Yannik Paul (’18) competes internationally ;he is currently playing South Africa’s NTT DATA Pro-Am tied for32nd through two rounds .
